Last spring sometime I noticed a nice looking skiff of snow in a couloir on Boom Mountain using Google Earth. I headed up in late May to see what I could see, but the views were fleeting and inconclusive. It was also obvious it was past season for it too. Over the summer I found a great picture of it, and it’s been on my mind ever since.

Photo: Manfred Delong, used with permission

So today I went up to finally ski it with Matt and Shaun. We headed up the summer trail, and noticed quite a few fat ski tracks (not XC skis). It turns out this area is actually a bit known, there was a skin track going right up to our couloir. It’s just not on the internet.. yet. Sorry to let the cat out of the bag. We took the summer trail on the N side of the creek and then crossed as the view opened up at the lake. This is a bad way to go, going via the pretty flat and well-bridged creek is better travel with less waste and most of all has better views up to the rock wall so you can deek out at the right time. Take the creek.

Me leading, Matt behind. Photo: Shaun Vincent

After a bit of bushwhack (not necessary if you go via the creek) we emerged onto the fan underneath the coolie. It looks like it ran pretty big during the heat cycle a week or so back, but we decided to give ‘er a go anyways. It had been snowing ever since we arrived at the parking lot, and on the way up the coolie there were numerous small sluffs. Then near the top a bit of sun broke through and a small cornice broke off and whizzed by with a large sluff so we stopped and huddled under some rocks. I decided to keep going to see if the couloir did actually top out on the ridge. It does, and the cornice guarding the view to the south was small enough to work. However, there would be a big rock wall on my right and I didn’t want to be working on it if/when something came off of that wall so I switched to ski mode and went down to the boys.

So close….

Shaun on the fan

Matt carving

The main Boom couloir

Sweet day, and nice to dial it back a notch or two from pushing my comfort level every outing. I’ll be back to this area I think, there are more couloirs than just this one on the face, and they are steeper/narrower/spicier.